肉

Translingual

Stroke order

Stroke order

Alternative forms

• ⺼ U+2EBC (when used as a left Chinese radical in compositions)

The left component form ⺼ looks very similar to ⺝, the left radical form of 月 (“moon”), and is often drawn identically in compounds. However they are etymologically distinct, and careful usage distinguishes the cross strokes, with ⺼ written with unattached diagonal strokes. This is particularly an issue in looking up characters by radical; compare 月 index and 肉 index.

The radical form ⺼ may also appear twisted to a diagonal, resembling 夕 with an added line, as in 祭, 然, and 將.

Han character

See images of
Radical 130 肉

肉 (Kangxi radical 130, 肉+0, 6 strokes, cangjie input 人月人 (OBO), four-corner 4022₇, composition ⿵内人 or ⿻冂仌)

1. Kangxi radical #130, ⾁.

Derived characters

• Appendix:Chinese radical/肉
• 𪠼, 𢫭, 𭸆, 𨹌, 朒, 𣧻, 𧻣, 𩣀, 䯐, 𩶩, 𨛇, 𦧘, 𭑶, 𠒯, 𫻯, 𭃘, 𡱎, 𢩌, 𥭊, 𨿇, 𩬳, 𪗌, 瘸, 𤻚
• 將 (top right component)
• 祭 (top left component)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 973, character 1
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 29236
• Dae Jaweon: page 1424, character 4
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 5, page 2931, character 1
• Unihan data for U+8089

Chinese

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 肉
Shang	Western Zhou	Warring States		Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)	Libian (compiled in Qing)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Qin slip script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts	Clerical script

Pictogram (象形) – ribs of an animal’s torso or simply a physical representation of a slice of meat.

Etymology 1

Probably from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *now (“tender; soft”), which has also been compared to 柔 (OC *mlju, “soft; flexible”), 揉 (OC *mju, “to knead”), 軟 (OC *njonʔ, “soft”), 弱 (OC *njewɢ, “weak”), 懦 (OC *noːls, *njo, “cowardly”), 荏 (OC *njɯmʔ, “weak”) (STEDT; Schuessler, 2007). Alternatively, it may be from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *s-nja-k (“meat, flesh”) (STEDT).

"media"

Back-formation from 生肉 (shēngròu). See there for more.

Pronunciation

Definitions

肉

1. meat; flesh

   豬肉／猪肉  ―  zhūròu  ―  pork

   牛肉  ―  niúròu  ―  beef

   我從不吃肉。／我从不吃肉。  ―  Wǒ cóngbù chī ròu.  ―  I never eat meat.

   這種魚的肉異常鮮美。 [MSC, trad.]
   这种鱼的肉异常鲜美。 [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè zhǒng yú de ròu yìcháng xiānměi.

   The flesh of this kind of fish has exceptional delicacy.

   不久，鬣狗便可飽餐一頓這些死了的動物的肉。 [MSC, trad.]
   不久，鬣狗便可饱餐一顿这些死了的动物的肉。 [MSC, simp.]

   Bùjiǔ, liègǒu biànkě bǎocānyīdùn zhèxiē sǐ le de dòngwù de ròu.

   Soon, the hyenas could then feast on the flesh of these dead animals.

   • 斷竹，續竹，飛土，逐宍 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     断竹，续竹，飞土，逐宍 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: 彈歌

     duàn zhú, xù zhú, fēi tǔ, zhú ròu

     cut the bamboo, tie the bamboo , let fly the mud , pursue the meat

2. (specifically) pork

   肉三鮮的餃子／肉三鲜的饺子  ―  ròusānxiān de jiǎozi  ―  three delicious ingredient pork dumpling

   蒜薹炒肉  ―  suàntái chǎo ròu  ―  garlic chive and pork stir-fry

   肉骨 [Hokkien]  ―  hia̍k-kut [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  pork ribs

3. body

   肉體／肉体  ―  ròutǐ  ―  physical body

4. flesh; pulp

   這桃子肉味甜汁多。 [MSC, trad.]
   这桃子肉味甜汁多。 [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè táozi ròu wèi tián zhī duō.

   The flesh of the peach was sweet and juicy.

5. (ACG) media; video

   生肉  ―  shēngròu  ―  raws (not fansubbed videos or clips)

   熟肉  ―  shúròu  ―  localized, subbed, or dubbed media

   烤肉  ―  kǎoròu  ―  localized, subbed, or dubbed media, with detailed effects

6. (Quanzhou Hokkien) main part of an object

   刀肉 [Hokkien]  ―  to-hia̍k [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  blade of a knife or sword

Compounds

Descendants

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Definitions

肉

1. (archaic) edge; brim; an outer part of a ring-shaped object (such as coin or jade annulus)

   • 肉倍好謂之璧 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     肉倍好谓之璧 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Erya, 5^th – 2^nd century BCE

     ròu bèi hǎo wèi zhī bì

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

2. (archaic, of sound and music) rich; substantial

   • 使其曲直繁瘠，廉肉節奏，足以感動人之善心而已矣。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     使其曲直繁瘠，廉肉节奏，足以感动人之善心而已矣。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE

     Shǐ qí qūzhí fánjí, liánròu jiézòu, zúyǐ gǎndòng rén zhī shànxīn ér yǐyǐ.

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

3. (dialectal Mandarin) spongy; squashy; flabby

   這西瓜瓤兒太肉了。 [MSC, trad.]
   这西瓜瓤儿太肉了。 [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè xīguā rángr tài ròu le.

   The pulp of this watermelon is too spongy.

4. (dialectal Mandarin) slow; sluggish

   這個人做事真肉。 [MSC, trad.]
   这个人做事真肉。 [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè ge rén zuòshì zhēn ròu.

   This person does everything sluggishly.

Compounds

Descendants

Etymology 3

Unclear. Reminiscent of 脢 (OC *mɯːs, *mɯː, *mɯːs, “dorsal meat”) (Schuessler, 2007).

Alternatively, it may be of substrate origin. Compare (Deng, 1994):

• Proto-Austronesian *SimaR (“grease; oil; fat”) > Amis simal;
• Proto-Tai *manᴬ (“grease; fat”) > Thai มัน (man);
• Malay gemuk (“fat”, adjective);
• Bunun masmuh (“fat”, adjective);
• Tsat maʔ˥˧ (“fat”, adjective).

Pronunciation

Definitions

肉 (Hokkien, Teochew)

1. meat; flesh

   豬肉／猪肉 [Hokkien]  ―  ti-bah [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  pork

   牛肉 [Hokkien]  ―  gû-bah [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  beef

2. (specifically) pork

   肉骨 [Hokkien]  ―  bah-kut [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  pork ribs

3. flesh; pulp

   龍眼乾肉／龙眼干肉 [Hokkien]  ―  lêng-géng-koaⁿ bah [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  flesh of dried longan

4. main part of an object

   刀肉 [Hokkien]  ―  to-bah [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]  ―  blade of a knife or sword

Further reading

• “肉”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), A03288
• “Entry #2607”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2023.
• (Cantonese) 粵音資料集叢
• zi.tools

Japanese

Shinjitai	肉
Kyūjitai	肉󠄁 肉+󠄁? (Adobe-Japan1)
The displayed kanji may be different from the image due to your environment. See here for details.

Kanji

(grade 2 “Kyōiku” kanji)

1. flesh, meat

Readings

• Go-on: にく (niku, Jōyō)^{←にく (niku, historical)}
• Kan-on: じく (jiku)^{←じく (ziku, historical)}
• Kun: しし (shishi, 肉)

Etymology 1

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *sisi. Not used in isolation in modern standard Japanese. Persists in compounds and in some dialects.

Cognate with 獣 (shishi, “beast, especially one used for meat”).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) し​し (Atamadaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

肉(しし) • (shishi) 

1. (obsolete or dialect, Aomori, Fukushima, Nara, Kagoshima) meat (of boars, pigs, deer, etc.)
2. (obsolete) human flesh
3. (dialect, Iwate, Niigata, Shizuoka, Toyama) muscle
4. (dialect, Toyama) excess fat, flab
5. (dialect, Kochi) the human body

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Middle Chinese 肉 (MC nyuwk). Compare modern Hokkien 肉 (jio̍k / lio̍k), Teochew 肉 (ne̍k), or Hakka 肉 (ngiuk⁷).

Alternative forms

• (honorific) お肉(にく) (o-niku)

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) にく​ (Odaka – )
• IPA^(key):

Noun

肉(にく) • (niku) 

1. meat, the muscle and fat tissue of an animal used as food
   • (Can we date this quote?), 一九二九年一月——二月‎:

     この肉(にく)上(あ)げましょうか、食(た)べたくなる程(ほど)美味(おい)しい肉(にく)ですよ

     kono niku agemashō ka, tabetakunaru hodo oishī niku desuyo

     Should I give this meat ? I want to eat them so much because this meat is just so good!

2. the flesh of an animal
3. the flesh of a fruit or vegetable
4. one's body, as opposed to spirit
5. in the Edo period, a prostitute who was an amateur woman
6. (Christianity) refers to humans themselves, their world, and their sins, as opposed to their spirit
7. the thickness of a thing

   板(いた)の肉(にく)

   ita no niku

   the thickness of a board

8. (figurative) the flesh or meat of something, such as an idea, structure, or argument

   議(ぎ)論(ろん)に肉(にく)をつける

   giron ni niku o tsukeru

   to put some meat on an argument, to flesh out an argument

9. an ink pad, a stamp pad
10. (theater, kabuki) short for 肉襦袢 (niku juban): flesh-toned undergarments worn by actors and shown when the character has to display their skin

Synonyms

• (fruit or vegetable flesh): 実(み) (mi)
• (body): 肉(にく)体(たい) (nikutai)
• (thickness): 厚(あつ)さ (atsusa), 太(ふと)さ (futosa)
• (ink pad): 印(いん)肉(にく) (inniku)

Derived terms

References

Korean

Hanja

肉 (eumhun 고기 육 (gogi yuk))

1. Hanja form^? of 육 (“meat, flesh”).

Vietnamese

Han character

肉: Hán Nôm readings: nhục, nậu, nhụ

1. (only in compounds) chữ Hán form of nhục (“flesh”).

Derived terms

References

• Dự án Từ điển tiếng Việt miễn phí